Motor suspension



May i6, 1950 E, A, BINNEY 2,508,139

MOTOR SUSPENSION Filed April 50, 1945 Patented May 16, 1950 UNITED STATES MOTOR SUSPENSION Vilric Alton Binney, Ilkley, England, assignor 4to The' English Electric Company Limited,` Londen, Engiand, a British company Application April 30, 1945, Serial No. 591,074 In Great Britain May 10, 1944 (Cl. M35-132.1)

5 Claims.

My invention' relates, generally, to suspensions for electricmotors Whichdrive vehicles and, more particularly to resilient supports for axle-hung motors.

Heretoiore an axle-hung motor has been mounted in the truck of'a vehicle' with the nose ol the motor frame resiliently supported on a transverse member forming partei the truck frame or undercarriage by means of compression springs or a solid block of rubber stressed primarily in compression.

An object of `my invention'generally stated, is to provide a nose suspension fory an axle-hung motor which shall be exible in operation and which may be economically manufactured and installed.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a'resili'ent support inw-nich the stress on the resilient material is primarily in shear.

Another object'of my invention is to provide a' resilient support in' which the resistance to load increases as the load is increased.

Other objects of my invention will be eX- plained fullyhereinafter or will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

According to my invention, the nose of an axlehung traction motor is supported by a resilient support including Vat least two upstanding plates so bonded together by a layer of rubber, or similar material, that the load on the motor moves one of the plates relatively to the other so as to stress the rubber primarily in shear. There may be in ner and outer plates bonded to opposite faces of an intermediate plate by separate layers oi rub ber between which the load is divided. Also,l rectangular frames may be' disposed one within the other and bonded together by rubber, or similar resilient material.

For a fuller understanding ofthe nature and objects of the invention, reference may beV had to theiollowing vdetailed"descr'il'otion, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a view inside elevation or an axlehung motor with a nose suspension unit constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, in section, taken along the line II-II of` Fig.` l;- and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in bottom plan and partly in section, the section being taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawing, particularly to Fig. l, the structure shown therein comprises axle-hung motor IEl having one side supported by a wheel axle Il and the other side PATENT OF FICE resiliently supported by av suspension unit I2V in a vehicle truck frame' lgon'ly a por'tion'of'which is shown. The motor fI maybe of theusualfaxlehung type suitable for vdriving an'elec'trically propelled vehicle equipped with wheels`v I4"Which run on rails l5. One sideof the'motor Ill' is mounted on the axle Il'by means oiiafb'earing I6, which may be of thefsleeve type. "I'he'mo'tor I u may be geared to theaxle' I`I"'in'the usual manner 'by means of gear members' "(not show-n). The suspension unit I2'funct'ions' to counteract the torque of the motor when it Vis'opera'ting in one direction only. When'fopera'ting in 'theother' direction, the torque maybe counteractdby other Vwell known means, such as a link'`connecting the -motor frame to the 'truck' frame, not shown vin the present drawing.

The vehicle truck I3 imay be of any 'standard type having a cross member or transom I'l. The transom l1 is provided-with'ahorizontally eX- tending lug or bracket '-Igior'supportingl the side of the motor I Il opposite the yaxle II.

As explainedhereinbeiora'itis customary to provide a resilient sus-pension or's'upporting unit for the nose of the motor" Ill. According to one embodiment kof lthe present invention, the resilient support I2 comprises an inner rectangular frame 2l and an outer rectangularframe 22, which are spaced from and bonded to an intermediate rectangular frame 23by separatelayers of rubber or a similar resilient mat-:rial2li.V

As shown most clearly in'lig.` 2, the supporting frames are 'so' disposed that upon application of load tothe resilient mounting the rubber is stressed primarily in shear. It Will `be understood that upstanding plates spacedand disposed in the manner of the end plates-of the frames 2 I, 22 and 23 may be utilized if desired. Y

As shown, the intermediate frame 23 consists of an open box-like structure With its vbase resting on the bracket I3 of the truck frame I3 and so disposed as to allow relative horizontal movement between the intermediate frame and the bracket I8. In order to prevent the base of the intermediate frame 23 from wearing because of this relative horizontal movement, a replaceable rubbing plate 25 is interposed between' the bottom of the intermediate frame 23 and the top of the bracket I8. The rubbing' plate 25 may be retained in position by"dwel`^`pins`26 inserted into openings provided in bosses 21 disposed on the inside of the frame 23.

The layers of rubber 24 are bonded to the inner and outer faces of the upstanding sides of the intermediate frame 23, and these layers are also bonded to the inner and outer frames in such a Way as to allow a relative vertical movement between the intermediate and the inner and outer frames. The inner and outer frames are disposed respectively inside and outside the intermediate frame and project above the intermediate frame so that any vertical load applied to the upper faces of the inner and outer frames is transmitted through the rubber, which is stressed primarily in shear, to the intermediate frame and thus to the bracket I8 on the truck frame I3.

In this manner the inner and outer frames support the nose 28 of the motor I0 and may enter a cavity 29 in the nose '28. As shown in Fig. 2, either the inner or the outer frame may project a slight distance above the other. Thus, when a light load is applied to the resilient mounting, the rubber between the intermediate frame 23 and the frame which projects the higher is rst subjected to stress. Further application of load brings both the inner and outer frames into line, thereby stressing both sections of rubber and increasing the resistance to the load.

Since the cavity in the motor nose will usually have a rough cast surface, it is desirable to provide some means of distributing the load evenly over the top surfaces of the inner and outer frames 2l and 22. As shown, this may be done by means of an equalizing plate 3l, which rests on the top surface of either the inner or outer frames or both. The top surface of the equalizing plate 3| is provided with a, layer of rubber 32 so that any inequalities on the surface of the motor nose are evened out by the rubber 32. The equalizing plate 3l may rest loosely on the top surface of the frames 2| and 22 and may be retained in position by guide members 33. If desired, the equalizing plates may be secured to either one or both of the inner and outer frames.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have provided a resilient support which is particularly suitable for supporting the nose of an axle-hung traction motor, but is not neces sarily limited to such applications. The resilientI support requires only a relatively small amount of rubber or similar material, which is stressed in shear rather than in compression as in previously known supports.

Since numerous changes may be made in the abovedescribed construction, and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim as my invention:

1. Means for resiliently supporting the nose of an axle-hung motor in a vehicle truck frame comprising an inner and an outer plate bonded to opposite faces of an intermediate plate by separate layers of resilient material, said plates being detached from the motor and the truck frame and so disposed between the nose of the motor and the truck frame that the weight and the torque of the motor when operating in one direction stress the resilient material primarily in shear and the plates are movable horizontally relative to the truck frame.

2. Means for resiliently supporting the nose of an axle-hung motor in a vehicle truck frame comprising an inner plate, an outer plate, an intermediate plate offset from the inner and outer plates and bonded thereto by separate layers of resilient material, said plates being detached from the motor and the truck frame and so disposed between the nose of the motor and the truck frame that the weight and the torque of the motor when operating in one direction stresses the resilient material primarily in shear and the plates are movable horizontally relative to the truck frame.

3. Means for resiliently supporting the nose of an axle-hung motor in a vehicle truck frame comprising an inner frame and an outer frame bonded to an intermediate frame by resilient material, said frames being detached from the motor and the truck frame and so disposed between the nose of the motor and the truck frame that the weight and the torque of the motor when operating in one direction stress the resilient material primarily in shear and the frames are movable laterally relative to the truck frame.

4. Means for resiliently supporting the nose of an axle-hung motor in a vehicle truck frame comprising an inner frame and an outer frame bonded to an intermediate frame by resilient material, said intermediate frame projecting below the other frames, said frames being detached from the motor and the truck frame and so disposed between the nose of the motor and the truck frame that the weight and the torque of the motor when operating in one direction stress the resilient material primarily in shear and the frames are movable laterally relative to the truck frame.

5. Means for resiliently supporting the nose of an axle-hung'motor in a vehicle truck frame comprising an inner frame and an outer frame bonded to an intermediate frame by resilient material, said intermediate frame projecting below the other frames, one of said frames projecting above the other frames, said frames being detached from the motor and the truck frame and so disposed between the nose of the motor and the truck frame that the weight and the torque of the motor when operating in one direction stress the resilient material primarily in shear and the frames are movable laterally relative to the truck frame.

ERIC ALTON BINNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 0I record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 429,746 Van Depoele June 10, 1890 2,138,175 Keys Nov. 29, 1938 2,184,102 Piron Dec. 19, 1939 2,248,869 Harwick July 8, 1941 2,257,804 Lord Oct. '7, 1941 2,260,508 Chambers Oct. 28, 1941 2,277,835 Alben Mar. 31, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 390,615 Great Britain Apr. 13, 1933 

